Line drying virgin

[RambleOn]

To my shame I have only ever, in my nearly 40yrs, dried clothes in the tumble drier

I am now about to start line drying as much as poss (yes, bad timing as it is just turning autumnal I know)

So, can you help me buy the right 'stuff' to make it as easy as possible?

Do I want a rotary thingie, or a simple line across the garden? What else do I need?

Can anyone give me the benefit of their experience?

i have a variety of pegs .

i have 'mega pegs' for large items like duvets and blankets.

i have soft grip pegs for bottoms like jeans and cords.

plastic pegs and wooden ones.

some slatterns people leave their pegs out on the line rather than bring them in with their washing, but i don't because then they may get rust on my clothes, so i have a peg bag as well.

i'm a bit of a laundry snob.

Expat I might have guessed that you had a selection of pegs.

Any laundry thread and here you are (and I am too!)

Hope you have some nice new pastel blue pegs ready for your new ds.

I will be if you peg out boys' clothes with pink pegs.

Also of course if you have wooden pegs the wood goes mildewy if you leave them on the line. Rush and mildew not a Good Thing.

I have a special pink peg tin.

My mum did line dry (and use a twin tub!), but it was about 30yrs ago, and I can't remember how she did it

I have one of those little clippy smalls driers for camping. It's still in its wrapper - instead I have used the tumble driers at the campsite

Do you have a problem with bird poo?

I have plastic pegs and wooden pegs too and I would like to share something with you: ths year, for some peculiar reason, nearly all of my plastic pegs have snapped. It might be because I peg out washing in the freezing cold and the plastic can't stand the lower temperatures, I don't know, but they have nearly all snapped.

My wooden pegs are all fine though, including some I took from my grandmother's house when she died. They look about 50 years old!

Very very occasionally a pigeon will poo on my sheets. But it is a really rare occurence (maybe once every 2 years).

Some of my cheaper plastic pegs have snapped too - I just put it down to wear and tear.

Re bird poo, don't hang stuff near large bushes or bird tables. We have one bush where the birds seem to hang out and then use the nearest item of clothing as a bird loo.

Things are taking an age to dry here at the moment. I think the air's damp...

However, I got a power bill this morning and we're behind with electricity so I'm going to have to persist with the line drying!

I always leave pegs out. Wooden ones.

Never had a problem with rust or mildew.

And I have one less task to do in life.

DdG how did you know it was a pigeon - did you see it!?

i've not had a problem with bird poop at all, and we're across the road from a sea loch.

it's been a bad summer for line drying here in Western Scotland, however.

VERY damp and no way i am turning hte heating on as it's LPG and costs a bomb.

I have big 'claret' coloured poos on my windscreen. The thought of them on my smalls - boak

Have just realized the neighbours will be checking out my huge preggers undies.

I always leave pegs out ..but they seem to vanish ..where do they go? same place as the odd socks?

I got a cordless iron - you put the iron on a stand to heat. Ideal though if you are not used to ironing as you dont get tangled up in the wire as you scoot round the jeans or shirt.

A retractable washing line is great as you can put away if you have bbq's or guests in the garden.

A couple of small round things with pegs attached is good for socks and pants and saves line space. Bit like this but you get them cheaper in woolies here

Get some soft pegs for "good" clothes and keep your pegs indoors - wash them aswell as they will get dirty and can end up marking clothes.

Use the non iron softner to avoid crinkles and ironing.

Get an airer for enclement days so you can pick the airer up and take in the house if it rains.

DO you tumble expat if stuff is still damp when you bring it in? I'm using the dryer a lot more than I'd like to

i've had to finish off A LOT of clothes, most, in the tumble dryer in the past month, Ceolas.

262mm of rain in August officially here. 27 out of 31 days with measurable rainfall.

Things dry in a day then do they? On a dry day I mean?

I hardly have any maternity clothes, and DD only has four outfits. It doesn't usually matter, because I can wash and dry them overnight.

Will I be able to cope when DS comes along in January? Not many good drying days in January I'll wager. I suppose they'll all fit on a radiator.

Pretty damp then. What sort of nappies are you planning on using? I'm finding Bimbles drying fairly quickly even now.

Onepieceoflollipop, no, I did not see it happening but I know it was pigeons for a number of reasons:
there are hardly any other birds in our garden!
they regularly sit on the powerline over the washing line
the poo comes in such large splats that no sweet little garden bird could possibly be responsible

i used kissaluvs, tots bots and bamboozles with DD2, so i'll be using those with DS as well as a couple of Bumgenius all in ones and the new Mothercare smart nappies.

usually with Riki wraps.

get a indoor rack for winter, Ramble.

IKEA has a massive metal one for about 20 quid that's well worth it.